Canon de 145 L modele 1916 Saint-Chamond

Canon de 145 L modèle 1916 Saint-Chamond
Canon de 145 L modèle 1916 Saint-Chamond
	A 14.5 cm K 405(f) emplacement in Festung Norwegen.
Type	Heavy artillery; Coastal Artillery
Place of origin	France
Service history
In service	1916-1945
Used by	France; Nazi Germany
Wars	World War I; World War II
Production history
Designer	St-Chamond
Designed	1916
Manufacturer	St-Chamond
Produced	1916
No. built	200 (WW1)
Variants	Canon de 155 L modele 1916 Saint-Chamond
Specifications
Mass	Travel: 13,300 kg (29,300 lb); Action: 12,500 kg (27,600 lb)
Barrel length	7.3 m (23 ft 11 in) 48.5 caliber[1]
Shell	Separate loading charge and projectile
Shell weight	36.2 kg (80 lb)
Caliber	145 mm (5.7 in)
Breech	Interrupted screw
Recoil	Hydro-pneumatic
Carriage	Box trail
Elevation	0° to +42.5°
Traverse	6°[1]
Rate of fire	1.5 rpm
Muzzle velocity	784 m/s (2,570 ft/s)
Maximum firing range	18.5 km (11.5 mi)[1]

Canon de 145 L modèle 1916 Saint-Chamond or L 16 St Ch was a French heavy artillery piece designed and produced during the First World War. A number were still on hand during the Second World War and served as coastal artillery in the French and German services.

History

The French Army had been pursuing the replacement of the Canon de 155mm L Mle 1877 de Bange gun since 1909. Spurred by the events in the Russo-Japanese war of 1904-5 it was realised that relying on an old gun which was almost immobile for long range artillery support wasn't a viable strategy. The French Army Artillery Technical Committee produced requirements for a de Bange replacement in November 1909. The requirements included two different guns with a range of 13 to 14 km with a maximum elevation of 35 to 40 degrees and a modern mobile carriage. It was suggested the requirement could be met by modification of existing equipment (i.e. the de Bange gun). The 1909 requirement was replaced by a February 1913 one created by a committee headed by General Lamothe. The requirements included a longer range of 17 to 18 km, a calibre of 130 to 140mm and the gun was to be transportable in two loads.[2] However, little was done before the outbreak of WW1. After the outbreak of war about 120 Canon de 155mm L Mle 1877/1914 Schneider guns which used the 155mm de Bange barrel were ordered.[3]

In order to address the French Army's deficit of long range heavy artillery the obvious conversion of suitable calibre Naval guns to land use was undertaken. There were surplus Canon de 138 mm Modèle 1891 guns which had been the secondary batteries of pre-dreadnaught battleships. The in service Canon de 138 mm Modèle 1910 was also converted to land use. Both FAMH (Saint-Chamond) (Mle 1891 - 12 guns) and Schneider (Mle 1910 - 15 guns) [4] produced land carriages in early 1916 and mid 1917 respectively. Although these guns generally met the range requirements of the French Army the carriages were heavy, clumsy and slow firing.[5] Saint-Chamond also constructed 12 Canon de 145mm Mle 1910 sur affût Saint-Chamond in 1916 using bored out 14 cm (138.6mm) Mle 1910 L/55 barrels.[6]

The final adaptation of the 14 cm Naval gun to land use was the Canon de 145 L Mle 1916 Saint-Chamond where new, slightly shorter (L/48.5), barrels were constructed by the Fonderie de Ruelle [7] and mounted on a Saint-Chamond carriage. The barrels were delivered in 145mm calibre with an option to bore them out to 155mm when they wore out although this wasn't done during WW1. The box trial was fairly conventional except for a pair of semi-circular plates at the front of the carriage. Because the gun used the cradle, recoil and recuperators of the Naval gun there was some residual recoil which was not absorbed by the carriage. The practice was to place a pair of inclined ramps under the circular plates so the gun could ride up on these during firing and slide back down into battery. The gun was normally moved as a single unit towed by a 4-wheel drive heavy truck with auxiliary wheels under the end of the trail. It was found the 145mm Saint-Chamond gun was very accurate with very little dispersal of shots. 200 barrels from Ruelle and 160 carriages from Saint-Chamond were ordered in 1916 [8] and the gun entered service in April 1917. This gun along with the Canon de 155mm GPF made up the equipment of the RALTs (Regiment d'Artillerie Lourdes à Tracteur) which made the heavy French artillery so effective at the end of the war.[9][10] The 145mm guns were converted to 155mm in the 1920s and served in heavy artillery regiments until WW2.

After the fall of France in 1940, it is estimated 210-215[11] guns were captured by the Germans. In German service they were known as the 14.5 cm Kanone 405 (f) or 14.5 cm K 405 (f) and employed in Atlantic Wall defenses in German occupied Western Europe.[1]

Photo Gallery

A Mle 1916 in firing position during World War I.
A Mle 1916 in traveling position during World War I.
A Mle 1916 with its limber during World War I.
A Mle 1916 in Norway during World War II.
A Mle 1916 on a Panama mount in Norway during World War II.
A Mle 1916 on a Panama mount near Cherbourg France.

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References

Chamberlain, Peter (1975). Heavy artillery. Gander, Terry. New York: Arco. p. 11. ISBN 0668038985. OCLC 2143869.
Vauvillier, François "Le 155 GPF (Grande Puissance Filloux)", Guerre, Blindés et Materiel, No.81, Févier-Mars 2008, pp. 18-25
Vauvillier, François "Le 155 GPF (Grande Puissance Filloux)", Guerre, Blindés et Materiel, No.81, Févier-Mars 2008, p.20
"Règlement Provisoire de Manoeuvre de l'Artillerie Lourde - Disposition Spéciales aux Batteries Armée de Canon de 14 c/m Modèle 1910 sur affût Schneider" (PDF). BnF Gallica. Retrieved 29 October 2017.
Touzin, Pierre and Vauvillers, François "Les Canons de la Victoire 1914-1918 Tome 1", Histoire & Collections, Paris, 2006, p.50
Touzin, Pierre and Vauvillers, François "Les Canons de la Victoire 1914-1918 Tome 1", Histoire & Collections, Paris, 2006, p.51
Fonderie de Ruelle
Vauvillier, François "1914-1918 La marine au Secours de l'Artillerie Lourde à Tracteurs - II - Les Constructions Neuves - Le Canon de 145 Modèle 1916 Ruelle-Saint-Chamond", Guerre, Blindés et Materiel, No. 86, Janvier-Févier-Mars 2009, pp. 38-46
Touzin, Pierre and Vauvillers, François "Les Canons de la Victoire 1914-1918 Tome 1", Histoire & Collections, Paris, 2006, p.52
"Règlement de manoeuvre de l'artillerie - Titre Vg - Description et Entretien des Matériels de 145 et de 145/155 Mle 1916" (PDF). BnF Gallica. Retrieved 29 October 2017.
"Lexikon der Wehrmacht". www.lexikon-der-wehrmacht.de. Retrieved 2017-10-16.

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[:5-1] Chamberlain, Peter (1975). Heavy artillery. Gander, Terry. New York: Arco. p. 11. ISBN 0668038985. OCLC 2143869.

[2] Vauvillier, François "Le 155 GPF (Grande Puissance Filloux)", Guerre, Blindés et Materiel, No.81, Févier-Mars 2008, pp. 18-25

[3] Vauvillier, François "Le 155 GPF (Grande Puissance Filloux)", Guerre, Blindés et Materiel, No.81, Févier-Mars 2008, p.20

[4] "Règlement Provisoire de Manoeuvre de l'Artillerie Lourde - Disposition Spéciales aux Batteries Armée de Canon de 14 c/m Modèle 1910 sur affût Schneider" (PDF). BnF Gallica. Retrieved 29 October 2017.

[5] Touzin, Pierre and Vauvillers, François "Les Canons de la Victoire 1914-1918 Tome 1", Histoire & Collections, Paris, 2006, p.50

[6] Touzin, Pierre and Vauvillers, François "Les Canons de la Victoire 1914-1918 Tome 1", Histoire & Collections, Paris, 2006, p.51

[7] Fonderie de Ruelle

[8] Vauvillier, François "1914-1918 La marine au Secours de l'Artillerie Lourde à Tracteurs - II - Les Constructions Neuves - Le Canon de 145 Modèle 1916 Ruelle-Saint-Chamond", Guerre, Blindés et Materiel, No. 86, Janvier-Févier-Mars 2009, pp. 38-46

[9] Touzin, Pierre and Vauvillers, François "Les Canons de la Victoire 1914-1918 Tome 1", Histoire & Collections, Paris, 2006, p.52

[10] "Règlement de manoeuvre de l'artillerie - Titre Vg - Description et Entretien des Matériels de 145 et de 145/155 Mle 1916" (PDF). BnF Gallica. Retrieved 29 October 2017.

[11] "Lexikon der Wehrmacht". www.lexikon-der-wehrmacht.de. Retrieved 2017-10-16.

French artillery of World War I
Anti-aircraft guns	Canon de 75 antiaérien mle 1913-1917
Coastal artillery	Canon de 100 mm Modèle 1891 Canon de 145 L modele 1916 Saint-Chamond Canon de 155 L modele 1916 Saint-Chamond Canon de 19 C modèle 1870/93 Canon de 19 C modèle 1875 Canon de 24 C modèle 1876 Canon de 240 L Mle 1884 Mortier de 270 mm modèle 1889
Field artillery	Canon de 75 modèle 1897 Canon de 75 modèle 1912 Schneider Canon de 75 modèle 1914 Schneider De Bange 90 mm cannon Obusier de 120 mm C modèle 1890 Obusier de 120 mm mle 15TR
Infantry guns	Canon d'Infanterie de 37 modèle 1916 TRP
Medium and heavy artillery	Canon de 105 mle 1913 Schneider Canon de 155 court modèle 1904 Rimailho Canon de 120 mm modèle 1878 Obusier de 155 mm C modèle 1881 Obusier de 155 mm C modèle 1890 Canon de 155 C modèle 1917 Schneider Canon de 155 C modèle 1915 St. Chamond Canon de 155 L modèle 1877/14 Schneider Canon de 155 L Modele 1917 Schneider Canon de 155 L modèle 1918 Schneider Canon de 155mm GPF De Bange 155 mm cannon Canon de 220 L mle 1917 Mortier de 220 modèle 1915/1916 Schneider
Mortars	Mortier de 58 mm type 2 Mortier de 75 modèle 1915 Schneider Mortier de 150 mm T Mle 1917 Fabry Mortier de 240 mm Mortier de 270 mm modèle 1885 Mortier de 270 mm modèle 1889
Mountain artillery	Canon de 65 M modele 1906 Canon de 76 M modele 1909 Schneider Canon Court de 105 M modele 1909 Schneider
Railway artillery	Canon de 140 sur affut-truc mle 1884 Canon de 164 modèle 1893/96 TAZ Canon de 19 C modèle 1875 Canon de 19 modèle 1870/93 TAZ Obusier de 200 "Pérou" sur affût-truck TAZ Schneider 24 cm Canon G modèle 1916 Canon de 240 L Mle 1884 Canon de 240 modèle 93/96 TAZ Canon de 274 modèle 93/96 Berceau Canon de 274 modèle 87/93 Glissement Canon de 305 modèle 93/96 TAZ Canon de 305 modèle 1893/96 à berceau Canon de 305 modèle 1893/96 à glissement Canon de 32 modèle 1870/81 à glissement Canon de 32 modèle 1870/84 à glissement Canon de 32 modèle 1870/93 à glissement Canon de 340 modèle 1893 à glissement Canon de 340 modèle 1912 à berceau Canon de 340 modèle 1912 à glissement Obusier de 370 modèle 1915 à berceau Canon de 370 modèle 75/79 Glissement Obusier de 400 Modèle 1915/1916 Obusier de 520 modèle 1916
Siege artillery	Obusier de 120 mm C modèle 1890 Canon de 120 mm modèle 1878 Obusier de 155 mm C modèle 1881 Obusier de 155 mm C modèle 1890 Mortier de 220 mm modèle 1880 Canon de 240 L Mle 1884 Canon de 240 TR Mle 1903 Mortier de 270 mm modèle 1885 Mortier de 270 mm modèle 1889 Mortier de 280 modèle 1914 Schneider Mortier de 293 Danois sur affut-truck modèle 1914 Mortier de 370 modèle 1914 Filloux
Self propelled artillery	Canon de 194 mle GPF Canon de 220mm L Mle1917 Schneider (FAHM) Mortier 280 mm TR de Schneider sur affût-chenilles St Chamond
Tank guns	Puteaux 37 mm SA 18 Canon de 75 modèle 1897

French artillery of World War II
Anti-aircraft guns	Mitrailleuse de 25 mm CA mle 39 Canon de 75 antiaérien mle 1913-1917 Canon de 75 CA modèle 1940 Schneider
Anti-tank guns	25 mm Hotchkiss anti-tank gun 25 mm APX modèle 1937 AC 37 anti-tank gun AC 47 anti-tank gun 47 mm APX anti-tank gun
Coastal artillery	Canon de 100 mm Modèle 1891 Canon de 145 L modele 1916 Saint-Chamond Canon de 155 L modele 1916 Saint-Chamond Canon de 19 C modèle 1870/93 Canon de 240 L Mle 1884 Mortier de 270 mm modèle 1889
Field artillery	Canon de 75 modèle 1897
Infantry guns	Canon d'Infanterie de 37 modèle 1916 TRP
Medium and Heavy artillery	Canon de 105 court mle 1934 Schneider Canon de 105 court mle 1935 B Canon de 105 L mle 1936 Schneider Canon de 105 mle 1913 Schneider Canon de 155 C modèle 1917 Schneider Canon de 155 C modèle 1915 St. Chamond Canon de 155mm GPF Canon de 194 mle GPF Canon de 220 L mle 1917 Mortier de 220 modèle 1915/1916 Schneider Mortier 280 mm TR de Schneider-St Chamond
Mortars	Mortier de 150 mm T Mle 1917 Fabry
Mountain artillery	Canon de 65 M modele 1906 Canon de 75 M modele 1919 Schneider Canon de 75 M modele 1928 Canon Court de 105 M modele 1909 Schneider Canon Court de 105 M modèle 1919 Schneider
Railroad artillery	Canon de 164 modèle 1893/96 TAZ Canon de 19 modèle 1870/93 TAZ Canon de 240 modèle 93/96 TAZ Canon de 305 modèle 1906/10 à glissement Canon de 32 modèle 1870/84 à glissement Canon de 32 modèle 1870/93 à glissement Canon de 320 modèle 1917 à glissement Canon de 340 modèle 1893 à glissement Canon de 340 modèle 1912 à berceau Canon de 340 modèle 1912 à glissement Obusier de 370 modèle 1915 Canon de 370 modèle 75/79 Glissement Obusier de 400 Modèle 1915/1916 Obusier de 520 modèle 1916
Siege artillery	Canon de 240 L Mle 1884 Mortier de 280 modèle 1914 Schneider Mortier de 293 Danois sur affut-truck modèle 1914 Mortier de 370 modèle 1914 Filloux
Tank guns	Puteaux 37 mm SA 18 47mm SA mle 1935 Canon de 75 modèle 1897